Test your basic knowledge |

Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A quick 20th century dance written in double time.






2. Harsh - discordant - and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.






3. A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.






4. A musical form where the melody or tune is imitated by individual parts at regular intervals. The individual parts may enter at different measures and pitches. The tune may also be played at different speeds - backwards - or inverted.






5. A sequence of songs - perhaps on a single theme - or with texts by one poet - or having continuos narrative.






6. Repetition of a single tone.






7. The element of music pertaining to time - played as a grouping of notes into accented and unaccented beats.






8. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






9. Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.






10. Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position.For example: C sharp and D flat.






11. A curve over notes to indicate that a phrase is to be played legato.






12. The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.






13. Combination of two or more keys being played at the same time.






14. A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.






15. Three to four movement orchestral piece - generally in sonata form.






16. A quick - improvisational - spirited piece of music.






17. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






18. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






19. A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.






20. An extended solo - often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.






21. The first section of a movement written in sonata form - introducing the melodies and themes.






22. A composition based on previous work. A common technique used in Medieval and Renaissance music.






23. A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.






24. The major and minor keys that share the same notes in that key.For example: A minor shares the same note as C major.






25. The movement of chords in succession.






26. A complex piece of music. Usually the first movement of the piece serving as the exposition - a development - or recapitulation.






27. Two or more voices or instruments playing the same note simultaneously.






28. Often used in overtures - a composition that uses passages from other movements of the composition in its entirety.






29. Refers to any great composer - conductor - or teacher of music.






30. Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional - flowery music; written in strict form.






31. The raising and lowering a pitch of an instrument to produce the correct tone of a note.






32. A numeric symbol in sheet music determining the number of beats to a measure.






33. A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches.






34. A set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts.






35. Groups of tones that are harmonious when sounded together as in a chord.






36. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.






37. A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches.






38. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.






39. Movement in music where the characteristics are crisp and direct.






40. The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.






41. Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.






42. Time signature with three beats to the measure.






43. Passage for the entire ensemble or orchestra without a soloist.






44. A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.






45. Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time.






46. Refers to the tuning of an instrument.






47. A person with notable technical skill in the performance of music.






48. Short movement or interlude connecting the main parts of the composition.






49. A drama where the words are sung instead of spoken.






50. A curve over notes to indicate that a phrase is to be played legato.